Batch of links

- Why do recipe writers lie and lie and lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? I’ve often wondered that myself, so I thoroughly enjoyed reading this article by Tom Socca.

- A few months ago, the New York Times launched a contest to find the most rational, ethical defense FOR eating meat. The winning entry is an interesting read! Basically, the author makes a good point by summing it up as follows: “What are these ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ ways of producing both meat and plant foods? For me, they are most succinctly summed up in Aldo Leopold’s land ethic: ‘A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.’” This applies to a vegetarian diet, too.

- Recently, Obama officially supported gay marriage. It was about damn time! This was in response to North Carolina amending their constitution to expressly forbid marriage between two people of the same sex. When I heard about that, I said that was stupid (I said other things too, but I did use that exact word). And the Engineer pointed out that I may have put my finger on the issue: look at this map comparing the number of people in each county who have a bachelor’s degree or higher to the way the county voted to amend the law. So yes, education really does expand minds!

- The cover of this week’s Time magazine is already causing quite a stir all over the internet (see here, for example). Frankly, I’m surprised it’s making this many waves. I mean, if you haven’t heard about attachment parenting, get out from under your rock and read up on it (like in Time); and if you have heard about it and don’t agree with it, then get over your darn self and let mothers whose family benefits from it do things their way.

- An interesting read on why it’s so hard to make a good vegan cheese. Daiya is mentioned, and I’m looking forward to trying the new one from Galaxy Foods.

- Nancy Silverton’s secret to making whipped cream hours ahead: use a scoop of crème fraîche (or sour cream) along with the cream, and the extra fat content will help the whipped cream hold in the fridge. This probably won’t come in handy for me now (I’m either in Canada with lactose-free cream or in the States with lactose-free sour cream), but it’s a really good thing to know in theory! I might make my own crème fraîche this summer, though, you never know.

- 15 money-saving tips for frugal cooking and shopping. And if you like those, try these 25 tips, too.

- Why you shouldn’t put something in the oven as soon as it’s done preheating.

- Five great tips for baking gluten-free, by Shauna James Ahern.

- I love infographics, so I just had to share this one, the satiety index. It turns out that when you measure the satiety index and the glycemic index (how full you feel and how bad the sugar crash is), as opposed to the nutritional value, a banana really is as bad as a cookie. Sadly, though, this did not make me crave oranges (a good choice), but croissants (not so good).

- On my old website, I talked about California Pizza Kitchen, which I really enjoy (especially for their Thai chicken and roasted garlic chicken pizzas). Well, they have a new pizza on the menu, and I’ve fallen completely in love with it! It’s the habanero carnitas, which has slow-roasted pulled pork, red onions and cilantro pesto; it’s served with spicy habanero sauce on the side, but I don’t use it. I just love that pizza!